“Beats Music is real” –and that’s why they have bought spots on the Superbowl at $4M a pop, enough for Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre to be considered players in the world of music streaming owned by Spotify with its 6M subscribers.
“Beats Music” claims it will be cutting edge and very inviting unlike its competitors but really it is only doing two major things Spotify hasn’t.
1. Advertising – I have no idea why none of the major streaming services does not buy advertising. If I had been Spotify I’d have been advertising on television from the very first day. Now “Beats” is spending $12M on four spots during the Superbowl… what the hell is that? For $250K a weekm I could keep Spotify (or any major streaming player) in the public’s imagination to they become a catchphrase and an annoyance.
2. “Beats Music” will be bundled with AT&T which means when you pay your cell phone bill with AT&T you will also pay for your streaming service. Convenience wise and between the two of them they should make some impact though my sense is that they are just blowing through the money they got off venture capitalists.
The truth is, what does the world need another streaming service for if all they are doing is precisely what Spotify are doing? If they had some unique content I could see it and also if they made people aware of streaming who hadn’t been –appeal to mainstream non music fans and the 50 + demo who are not so music friendly. For $12M I would start a Telemarking department and cold call people for si months. For $12 Million I would do a lot more that buy four spots in the Superbowl. The bottom line is, if they are offering a monthly subsription at a dollar a holla they will eat their lunch and if they don’t, they won’t.
The problem with a Superbowl buy is however memorable it is, nobody will remember a week from now. They are much better off spending their money judicially. But, of course, this is about impressing their backers, though why wasting money would embrace anybody is beyond me.
Spotify didn’t listen to us when we told them to advertise, now they are paying a price. There is no reason why Spotify couldn’t double their subscriber base in a year… will they? Who knows. As for now, 4 spots during the Superbowl is a stupid waste of mney, now let’s see what they have to add to the story.